The present invention relates to repair of aircraft. More specifically, it relates to a framework for supporting one or more repair processes of the aircraft.
Aircraft structural components get damaged during their manufacturing and in service. Repair of such damages requires specialized knowledge and expertise. Most of these damages are repaired using Structural Repair Manuals (SRMs) provided by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of the structural components. Typically, the SRMs are voluminous documents containing a large amount of information corresponding to the damages and repair of the aircraft structural components. Repair engineers need to study and interpret the information to provide repair solution(s). The study and interpretation of the SRMs is a complex, tedious and time-consuming process. As a result, the airliners incur a huge cost due to the long repair cycle time.
Most OEMs and airliners maintain a database containing their experiences or specialized knowledge on actual damages and repairs performed over a period of time. However, the current repair processes may not utilize the specialized knowledge stored in the database in providing the repair solutions for the damages. Further, the commercial aircraft industry nowadays uses composite materials for various structural components. The damage and repair of the structural components made of composite materials can be more complex than the repair of components made of metallic structures. Furthermore, the composite repair technology is in its initial stages and is still evolving. Thus, the SRMs may not contain an exhaustive list of damage and repair scenarios related to the structural components made of composite materials. Therefore, the repair of composite materials poses several challenges for the airliners, depots, and OEMs. Furthermore, updated versions of the SRMs are released by the OEMs periodically over the lifetime of the aircraft. The updated versions include a new set of guidelines for damage identification and repair instructions that need to be studied again and adapted in practice to identify the repair solutions.
In light of the discussion above, there is a need for a solution for supporting the repair processes to provide fast, effective, reliable, and consistent repair solutions for metallic as well as composite structures. Further, the solution should use the SRMs as well as the previous damage and repair information to provide the repair solutions. Furthermore, the solution should support the different aircraft configurations available in the industry and the various versions of the SRMs.